Jamie McDonnell pledges to fight on after losing world title

Jamie McDonnell says he will fight on at a higher weight after his four-year reign as WBA bantamweight champion was ended.

McDonnell was stopped inside the first round by Japanese sensation Naoya Inoue in Tokyo on Friday.

Questions were quickly asked about how well the Hatfield fighter had made the weight after looking incredibly drawn on the scales the day before and reportedly piling on more than 26lbs in the following 18 hours.

But he refused to make excuses for his defeat to now-three weight world champion Inoue and suggested he will continue his storied career.

“I take my hat off to Inoue,” McDonnell said in a short statement.

“He’s a great champion and he’ll go on to achieve even bigger things.

“I got caught with some big shots.

“I’ll be moving up from here.”

McDonnell has been expected to move up in weight for the last two years but opportunities continued to arise at bantamweight.

He could now switch to super bantamweight or even featherweight, where an all-English clash with former world champion Scott Quigg would be a mouthwatering prospect.